On September 19, Germany will honor a speech, delivered 25 years ago, with a permanent plaque on the very spot where President Reagan gave it in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. It was there that on June 12, 1987, Reagan uttered the most famous words of his presidency and perhaps the entire Cold War: "Mr. Gorbechev, tear down this wall." He was of course talking about the Berlin Wall, which did indeed come crumbling down two years later, taking with it the entire Soviet Empire.

For Reagan, the speech was 20 years in the making. As early as 1967 when Ronald Reagan was Governor of California, he began asking for the destruction of the wall. In a debate with Senator Robert Kennedy, he said, "it would be very admirable, if the Berlin Wall, which was built in direct contravention to a treaty, should disappear."

Fast forward to 1986. Negotiations from the Reykjavik Summit had stalled and Gorbachev